DNA Tests Exonerate 2 Former Prisoners

Marvin Lamont Anderson in 2002, with his pardon. Anderson spent more than a decade in prison for a rape he didn't commit. (By Steve Helber -- Associated Press)

Prosecutors in Alexandria and Norfolk have requested that the governor issue complete pardons in both cases.

Sengel declined to identify the Alexandria man, who was released about a year ago, but said Wednesday that "I have met with him, and he is thankful that his innocence has been established."

The biological samples in the two cases were contained among the files of lab analyst Mary Jane Burton, who retired in 1988 and died in 1999. For years, Burton had meticulously preserved pieces of clothing smeared with blood, semen or saliva in her files, which ended up in a storage facility.

Burton's files were rediscovered in 2001, when an inmate asserted his innocence under a new state law that for the first time granted the right to request testing of DNA evidence more than 21 days after sentencing.

In May 2003, Warner pardoned Julius Earl Ruffin, 49, of Virginia Beach, who was cleared by DNA evidence after spending 21 years in prison for rape. Marvin Lamont Anderson of Hanover County and Arthur Lee Whitfield of Norfolk each spent more than a decade in prison for crimes they did not commit and were exonerated by evidence in Burton's files. Those exonerations led to the first round of random testing and Wednesday's announcement.

Legal advocates at organizations such as the Innocence Project have been pushing for greater use of DNA testing in capital cases. But some prosecutors and lawmakers have said increased DNA testing could open the door to a flood of frivolous claims by inmates and undermine the basic system of evidence.

Joshua K. Marquis, vice president of the National District Attorneys Association and an Oregon prosecutor, said high-profile exonerations like those announced Wednesday have led to a "misperception" that DNA is routinely freeing inmates.

"Do we have an epidemic problem of wrongful convictions in this country? No," Marquis said. "The problem of wrongful convictions is episodic, not epidemic."

Still, Marquis said prosecutors nationwide would welcome additional funding for post-conviction testing. But he said evidence from current rape and murder cases should be tested first. He noted that a few years ago San Diego prosecutors launched a program to reexamine DNA evidence in old cases.

"Our allegiance is to the truth," Marquis said.

Virginia's state forensics lab, which has a top reputation nationwide, also made headlines this year when an independent audit raised questions about potentially flawed results in the case of pardoned death row inmate Earl Washington Jr. in 2000.

A later review of 123 current criminal cases at the lab found no pattern of problems, and this review has nothing to do with the reliability of the lab.

Warner has also spent more than three years deciding whether to test the DNA of Roger Keith Coleman, an inmate who was executed in 1992 for the rape and murder of his sister-in-law. Aides to Warner said the governor is likely to make a decision in that case before he leaves office Jan. 14.

Stockwell reported from Alexandria. Staff writer Maria Glod and staff researcher Bobbye Pratt in Washington contributed to this report.